The Training Suite Spot

Customization is her specialty! Imagine Debra as a your personal training mixologist: a little bit of this, a heavy pour of that, and a smidge of something special to top it off. By collaborating together, your organization will be more than satisfied with the outcome.

Debra's primary focus is helping people and organizations get where they want and need to go in a fun and thought-provoking manner. She has the uncanny ability to connect with people. No matter the topic, Debra presents in a motivating and light-hearted style, which provides the framework for serious and substantive issues to be truly heard and understood by the participants.

Take a gander at her sample training sessions below! Feel free to mix and match, as no two trainings are exactly alike. Not seeing what you're looking for? Not a problem! Just click here to reach out to Debra.

There is one undeniable truth: when a company or team is in its earliest days – the key differentiators are the team, their purpose, and their culture. I see each person when they join a company as a tile which is added to an evolving mosaic masterpiece of the team / company. This mosaic is the company culture – where all team members are grouted together regardless of their title - influence its beauty and strength. Join Debra as she shares research from Harvard Business Review of the essential characteristics of developing a great culture.

Focus Areas:

Discuss the opportunities and challenges of company and team culture; exposing areas where you can leverage strengths and minimize weaknesses.

Expose and explore the 6 absolute laws of building a great culture: Purpose, Opportunity, Success, Appreciation, Wellbeing, and Leadership.

Develop a Start, Stop, and Keep Action Plan where you can take your knowledge and implement it to deliver results for you, your teams, and your company!

Change is all around us, yet people and professionals continue to struggle when change faces them in their lives. Through this educational and engaging session, Debra will help you and your team members find the road to success by transitioning with change successfully!

Focus Areas:

Clarify what is change and how people act to avoid change; exposing irrational beliefs people have about change and benefits gained from accepting change.

Expose the 6 stages of change and the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors associated with each stage.

Identify the roles that attitude, perception, focus, and reframing have in identifying and embracing change.

Share 10 take-away tips for dealing with change, which each participant can reference; assisting them on a successful journey of proactive behaviors to achieve professional success.

Uncover the positive influence each participant has in empowering themselves to make a successful transition and achieve success for themselves and the customers they serve.

Focus Areas:

Facilitate an active discussion of the value of conflict – how it can help propel an organization to greatness and inspire innovation.

Clarify what conflict resolution is and the simple steps to engage in when a conflict appears within and outside of your organization.

Conduct several active dialogue sessions and skill practices regarding conflict and how we as individuals interpret and respond to conflict differently, based on our natural tendencies and personalities.

Business and industry strive for employee engagement; yet Gallup's most recent research exposes American Employees are 33% engaged. Debra will introduce the best practices of Employee Engagement to equip your employees to be effective in their leadership role. The attendees will experience an active exploration of what employee engagement is and is not; defining in practical terms what employee engagement looks like and its value to incorporate such best practices within your company / organization. This is to include a summarization of Gallup’s State of the American Workplace, sharing the 12 elements which are proven performance management practices which boost outcomes of individuals, teams, and their respected organizations; focusing discussions in areas which are directed towards leadership influence and / or control. Participants will also work through a variety of interactive exercises which brings forth Employee Engagement Best Practices; allowing participants to experience and apply concepts within a small group; coming together as a large group to process and establish value-added take-aways to incorporate within your company. Lastly, each participant will develop a Professional Action Plan of the Stop, Start, and Keep model; holding participants accountable to identify and commit to specific behaviors of Employee Engagement for the benefit of the company, their teams, and themselves throughout their career.

There is an increased interest in healthcare regarding the role of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) – a set of behavioral competencies, distinct from traditional IQ – that impact performance. There is also a growing body of evidence that individual behaviors included in EQ influence patient outcomes and organizational success, as well as employee satisfaction. Join Debra for an engaging and thought-provoking training that will define what Emotional Intelligence is, how to apply it your healthcare setting, and how to leverage this strength to improve staff performance, career satisfaction, and patient care!

Join Debra as she shares a powerful journey to overcome common work and life barriers and share how to bring out the best in you and your team. Each person and professional faces challenges and yet we each must learn to overcome negativity and adversity to create success.

Focus Areas:

Discuss the barriers which prohibit people to achieve success and life satisfaction.

Uncover the 10 rules for the energized journey of your life - professionally and personally.

Explore the critical roles of: attitude, motivation, purpose, and enthusiasm and what they do to contribute to higher caliber performance and positive energy.

Facilitate an Individualized Action Plan where participants apply their knowledge and skills learned from the session immediately.

Help yourself gain the tools and knowledge necessary to put your thoughts into action. This proven goal setting methodology has helped many reach their maximum potential in their professional and personal life.

Focus Areas:

Facilitate an active discussion about direction, effort, and persistence and how they positively impact effective goal setting and achievement.

Expose and practice the power of goal setting through the proven S.M.A.R.T. and H.A.R.D processes which leads people to success.

Assist participants to create their own Professional Goal Setting Action Plan, putting their goals into action!

Focus Areas:

What do happy people do differently than unhappy people? We all have gathered similar ingredients throughout the courses of our lives, but what we make of those ingredients is the difference between a great cake or a terrible mess. Join Debra in learning how happy people choose to mix their ingredients; bringing them happiness rather than misery. Debra will share research findings that expose the "secrets" of happy people. An inspirational and humorous session which gives everyone insight about themselves!

Join Debra as she poses deliberate questions to determine if you are helping or hindering your success. No organization or individual can achieve goals, compete effectively in the world market, fulfill a mission, or develop people to their fullest potential without accountability. Learn how to take the blame game of, ‘who dropped the ball’ and replace it with the responsibility focus of, ‘how can I fill this need?’ Debra will share thought-provoking questions of how we can choose to continue to contribute to our misery or success by reframing our positions of how we see ourselves and the world and its situations around us. Inspired by the book; QBQ! Question Behind the Question, learn a logical method of how you can gain personal accountability, achieve results, break down barriers, improve service, and accept change more readily.

Focus Areas:

Don't wait for someone else to get things started for you. Take the initiative to step forward, step up, and take action. Initiative is the critical skill that separates achievers from wanna-be's and do-ers from complainers. Debra will help you find energy and motivation to expand your capabilities and perspectives in life and take the initiative. In this session you will:

See what initiative is and the power it has on your professional and personal life.

Examine barriers people experience when they lack initiative, resulting in lower company earnings and decreased career opportunities.

Discover the strong connection between initiative, accountability, attitude, and perception, and learn to leverage them to achieve professional and personal greatness.

Create a Personal Action Plan for making initiative an integral part of achieving your professional and personal success.

Disney is world known for their leadership excellence. An organization’s success relies on the consistent performance of its team members. Each day employees within your company have the opportunity to create value for their customers and enhance the relationship – directly impacting the bottom line. Join Debra as she exposes several aspects of how to implement Disney’s excellence within your organization.

Focus Areas:

Create your professional and personal leadership values.

Recognize the opportunities to adapt what Mickey Mouse knows – developing your leadership strategies and implement best practices into your company / organization.

Identify specific actions you can take away to positively influence changes in your organization.

Emotional Intelligence continues to be a driving force of how we can accomplish more in a global economy. EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is equally, and sometimes more relevant and impactful in today’s successful professional than IQ. Research consistently supports EQ’s necessity for leaders within all levels of an organization. Join Debra as she helps uncover the power of the Sixth Sense EQ for you and your organization!

Focus Areas:

Define in digestible terms what Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is and what value it has for you, your leaders, & team members.

Workplace feedback is a road less traveled; however it’s a road that can take you to some amazing destinations! Join Debra as she drives you on a road trip to destination P2P: Peer to Peer Feedback. Throughout our journey together, you will collect various tools and collaborate with your colleagues focusing on why both types of feedback – growth and recognition – are wanted and needed in your company and within our lives. Let’s unlock the power within each of us and get comfortable having conversational feedback during our work to help ourselves and one another!

Focus Areas:

An active discussion regarding the challenges and opportunities of giving and receiving respectful recognition & growth feedback with peers and others; gaining the tools to help yourself, your team, and your company positively grow.

Explore the 3 elements (summarize understanding, ask clarifying questions, respond and / or apply); to effectively receive feedback; accepting the ‘gift’ to gain a deeper understanding of how we can recognize and improve ourselves and our teammates within your workplace.

Practice feedback conversations within a small group with real life situations to be competent and comfortable with future feedback opportunities.

Develop a Professional Action Plan: Stop, Start, and Keep, helping participants identify and commit to apply their knowledge to include feedback within daily interactions and conversations throughout their career.

Personal Brand is the ongoing process of establishing an image and impression in the mind of others. The question is no longer if you have a personal brand – as we all do – but rather are you aware of your brand and what can you do to cultivate one which can propel you both professionally and personally.

Throughout this session you will:

Gain clarity of what a personal brand is and is not, and how it can guide your success as a professional and a person.

Explore what your brand currently is and learn how you can be strategic in enhancing it.

Expose the unwritten rules to branding and disclose pitfalls where one’s brand can become eroded.

Create an action plan where you can develop and improve your personal brand to further your success.

Focus Areas:

Join Debra in this thought-provoking and motivational session which strives to unlock the mysteries each of us holds within; ready to be released! During the session Debra will help identify what is important to each of us as individuals and clarify what we want out of this thing called life. Learn how to expose the right choices which will help you achieve happiness, balance, and success that is exclusively yours!

Expose the connection of how attitude and motivation can propel an organization and its staff to greatness.

Determine the importance of developing a positive attitude to foster a productive and healthy work environment.

Identify and discuss each person's control and choice of their own attitude.

Assist in developing each person's capacity to improve his or her own attitude- positively influencing their work team's attitude.

In today's challenging economic climate, more and more employees are leaving their current careers due to downsizing and outsourcing. As a performing employee who has given their all to their employer, it is time to invest in yourself and join Debra as she facilitates an interactive session to give you the tools to be better equipped yourself as you prepare for the next chapter; professionally and personally. Each of the following goals will incorporate active facilitation and discussion, research-based content, exercises to explore the content, and open dialogue for question and answer throughout the entire session; learning from the facilitator and one another.

Focus Areas:

Exploring the stages of change: validating thoughts and feelings of grief and concern and locating the opportunities within the stages of change. This will include a self-exploration exercise to uncover each participant's satisfaction in the 8 categories in our lives and finding their interests and passion – linking it to a potential career(s) for the future.

Identifying the skill sets within each participant; determining what skills can transfer to the next career / success and discussing the job market. Work through the exercise of 'typical and dream day' which each participant can use for job exploration - expanding one's thinking to multiple fields beyond their current role.

Share tips, techniques, and best practices when writing a résumé, preparing for telephone and face to face interviews; recognizing the changing marketplace of today which utilizes technology, systems, and automated hiring processes.

Burnout has been called the occupational hazard of the 21st century. Why? The pace and complexity of work is increasing. The amount of information needed to be successful is multiplying exponentially and we are hyper connected to our workplace and the client demands. The beneficial news is there are strategies which you can engage to assist in identifying and reducing stress levels and promote healthy self-care. Join Debra in this interactive session where you will experience techniques which you can apply to overcome compassion fatigue and other ailments of the helping profession. Expand your resources within the field by forming partnerships with others who can assist you in your success of a balanced life; professionally and personally and initiate an action plan to invest in you!

Servant leadership has been around for over 50 years, yet the understanding and application of this style of leadership is often misunderstood and under-represented. Servant leadership is the idea that managing with respect, honesty, and love infinity helps organizations and their employees to reach their maximum capacity of success. Leadership is a calling, join Debra in learning more about this powerful style of leadership and how it can propel you and your organization towards success.

Through this session you will:

Discover the characteristics of being a servant leader and its importance to you and your company.

Expose the truth that efficiency is not effectiveness and the critical need and value of vision in today’s workplace.

Learn about the 5 ways of being: Authentic, Vulnerable, Accepting, Present, and Useful.

Create an individual action plan where you can begin and / or enhance your journey to becoming a Servant Leader.

“Time sure flies when you’re having fun!” That’s the age old adage, yet more and more people find themselves and their time flying by, but not reaping the rewards. Join Debra in this dynamic and inspirational message where she will facilitate exercises to help identify what is important to us as individuals and what each of us wants out of this thing called life. We will explore the rationale of when we seek relief from our busy-ness; having further exhausted ourselves with over-stimulating activities. Learn how to expose the right choices which will help you achieve happiness, balance, and success that is exclusively yours! Through the session’s experiences, you will bring clarity to your values, grow wings for your dreams, and find the stamina to get ahead in your personal and professional life!

For the first time in history we have 4 active generations working in our companies and organizations. Learn to lessen the misunderstandings and leverage the diversity to help achieve success within your organization!

Focus Areas:

Examine each of the 4 active generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y - to gain a deeper understanding of the differences and similarities of each.

Facilitate an active discussion of the various generations; the stereotypes and experiences each group brings to your organization/ company.

Uncover the value each generation brings to your workforce, exploring how you can leverage natural qualities to achieve results for your company.

Develop an Action Plan where each participant can apply the knowledge to successfully work with each generation, producing results and improving workplace morale.

Multiple generations in the workforce and changing attitudes about what a person needs and wants from their employer is a hazardous mix - challenging productivity and effectiveness. Provide your team members and leaders a proven tool which directly identifies a team member’s preferred communication style and what type of environment brings out their best for maximum performance.

Focus Areas:

Gain a clearer understanding of yourself and others through the DiSC tool.

Realize the impact of your behavior on the people around you; adapting for communication success.

Identify effective communication and behavioral techniques to speak the same ‘language’ with those around you – increasing productivity and improving employee satisfaction.

Create a Professional Action Plan where each participant can implement what they learned immediately at their place of work; positively impacting their communication abilities and enhancing their understanding of others and themselves.

Does your company’s reality include elements of: low performance, dismal morale, and lackluster motivation? Desiring a simple formula of action to achieve results? Whether you’re a small team or a large corporation, you too can incorporate short time investments in your teammates to deliver individual productivity, company results, and improve career satisfaction. Join Debra as she helps you focus on 9 proven strategies to implement for you and your team’s success. To gain actionable leadership one must explore:

Managing Up is a hot topic concept; however what we’re seeing and hearing in our workplaces may not always be a ‘best practice’. When Managing Up is done right, it brings value and creates opportunities to achieve success. When done incorrectly, one can find themselves in corporate quicksand. Join Debra as she exposes the truths and fallacies of Managing Up so you can learn how to execute this human relations phenomenon with integrity and positive results.

Throughout the session you will:

Gain clarity of what effective Managing Up is and what it looks like in your company or organization.

Learn how Managing Up can help you gain a better level of satisfaction and engagement in your current role and how it can also advance your career.

Be exposed to the Do’s and Don’ts of Managing Up effectively; removing the brown-nosing stereotype with mutually beneficial tactics and strategies to help you and your boss.

Join Debra as she walks you through the ponds in life to learn how you can establish goals for yourself which brings more success and happiness! Inspired by Brian Tracy’s Book: Eat That Frog; you will learn how to tackle your most important, daunting task and get ‘er done! When you ‘eat your frog’ you feel engaged, happier, energized, and are more productive.

Focus Areas:

Sharing a formula for setting and achieving goals in a logical and common sense manner.

Highlight the over 20 principles of overcoming our mind and time constraints to include: Plan every day in advance, Consider the consequences, Focus on key result areas, Leverage talents, Identify key restraints, and Develop a sense of urgency.

Develop an Action Plan where you can take your knowledge from the pond and implement it within your workplace; sharing it with your team members to deliver results and gain satisfaction!

Join Debra in this highly interactive and engaging session regarding positive change management strategies. Throughout your time with your colleagues, Debra will explore the change process and cycle with you; defining what change is and how we respond and react to it – providing us the results of success or catastrophe! Through this session, Debra will uncover the positive benefits to change and expose research-based strategies which will equip you and your associates to proactively manage change. Each participant will leave this powerful session with a personalized action plan which you can begin implementing your positive change management techniques immediately as a professional and a person!

The challenges of a woman continue to evolve as our world continues to change. How a woman perceives and responds to stress is inheritably different. Join Debra is this educational and uplifting session targeted at helping women recognize and manage their stress successfully.

Focus Areas:

Discover a woman’s different physical and emotional responses to stress.

Learn specific strategies to repel and reduce stress in your personal and professional life.

Identify ways which participants can “cook up” positive and productive uses of stress.

Share action items which can be applied immediately in your life to reduce and repel your stress.

Client Testimonials

"Love her energy and enthusiasm" Cindy Rillery, "Great class. Very helpful info." Rosie Daniel, "This was awesome! It hit home in a great way" Shannon Skow, "Very well paced and energetic class. Best one in the series thus far." Nathan Garbes

Hawkeye Community College Business Consortium Series, Multiple Participants

Debra met our company's program needs through two key elements: her pre-presentation work that allowed her to provide a high degree of 'customization,' and her 'performance' skills made the sessions interesting throughout the entire 2 hours.

McKesson Ambulatory Services Group

Debra was extremely professional throughout the planning process, and was very dedicated to ensuring her session would hit the mark with our employees. Her dedication to creating a session that was tailor-fit for our group was evident in our pre-meetings. I truly appreciate Debra's enthusiasm, professionalism, and attention to detail. She was a pleasure to work with and I look forward to partnering with her again for future events. Thank you!

J. Pepping, John Deere

I booked Debra without ever having heard her, but as soon as she started speaking, my secretary and I just looked at each other and smiled. Debra's enthusiasm was evident from the very beginning of her presentation. She was dynamic, personable and captured the audience's attention. I would highly recommend her services and have referred her name to others in my facility.

Ramona Sonkens, St. Luke's Hospital

Debra’s energy and engaging style brings the audience into the subject and makes them feel a part of it. We have done the Change Management session with two different groups and it is a great opening workshop for a day of other presentations that challenged the group with new ideas and change in our business.

Stewart Galloway, PhD, Senior Swine Nutritionist, Hubbard Feeds

She was a great speaker: lively, uplifting, and inspiring, Debra was very engaging, Her personality and energy was contagious, Difficult concepts which were expertly delivered, Very fresh, fun, and interactive session- very enjoyable!, Debra gave lots of good suggestions to take back to my staff – I wish I could have her speak to my staff.

Iowa Health Care Association Convention & Trade Show

Debra, speaking as a class participant in your coaching session today, I just want to say that you did an outstanding job. What I learned today is directly applicable to my job and in fact, I'm incorporating it as my short term growth objective that I'm required to establish as part of another training initiative I'm undertaking. Really good stuff! Thanks so much.

Steve Sawyer, Pearson

Appreciated Debra's style throughout the process, and the fact that she really wanted to get to know us and our needs. Made for a much more personalized and relevant session. Also appreciated her energy and enthusiasm. It's always nice to work with people who are positive and enthusiastic about their work.